VOA常速英语2007年-Aid Agencies Prepare for Imminent Attack in Nor

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
03 December 2007

A senior official of the U.N. Children's Fund says aid agencies are making contingency¹ plans to help a possible new wave of displaced people in North Kivu. He says an attack by government forces in this eastern province of the Democratic Republic of Congo appears imminent². Lisa Schlein reports for VOA.

UNICEF Representative in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Anthony Bloomberg, says there are unconfirmed reports up to 50,000 people were newly displaced when insurgents³ under Laurent Nkunda's command attacked North Kivu on Sunday.

He says a government deadline for Nkunda to disband his forces lapsed⁴ a long time ago and it looks as though an attack by the government against the renegade leader is imminent.

If this takes place, he says aid agencies believe more than 100,000 additional people could become homeless. That, he says, would increase the number of people already displaced in North Kivu since early this year to about one-half million.

"The humanitarian⁵ community has made a contingency plan in North Kivu to accommodate such a displacement," Bloomberg said. "The U.N. peacekeepers will also have to play their part to protect civilians⁶ and to secure humanitarian space to do humanitarian work. But I think that what is in prospect⁷ is not only a worsening situation in North Kivu, but the possibility of a resolution."

Bloomberg says attempts at a negotiated settlement to bring the fighting in North Kivu to an end so far have failed. Therefore, he says, it is possible a military solution may be the only way out of this intractable situation.

"I am not as UNICEF favoring a military solution," he said. "In fact, the United Nations as a whole has favored the peaceful, diplomatic solution. However, this has not worked. It appears as if there will be a military confrontation⁸-even if the military may not be the solution, that one can expect some change to occur ... And the prospect that I painted is even though there may be a worsening of the situation because of the military confrontation, there is a prospect also that some improvement may take place in the medium term."

Bloomberg says UNICEF and its partners will expand food and non-food assistance to the displaced as needed. He says UNICEF currently is supporting more than 130 nutritional⁹ centers for malnourished children and runs mass immunization campaigns against measles¹⁰ and other killer¹¹ diseases.

He says the agency helps to reunite children separated from their families and assists about one half of the many victims of sexual violence.

He says UNICEF works for the release of child soldiers. Indeed, a few weeks ago, he notes, the agency negotiated the release of more than 200 children from Mau Mau forces.

1 contingency   

n.意外事件，可能性

参考例句：

• We should be prepared for any contingency.我们应该对任何应急情况有所准备。
• A fire in our warehouse was a contingency that we had not expected.库房的一场大火是我们始料未及的。

2 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。

3 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

4 lapsed   

adj.流失的，堕落的v.退步( lapse的过去式和过去分词 )；陷入；倒退；丧失

参考例句：

• He had lapsed into unconsciousness. 他陷入了昏迷状态。
• He soon lapsed into his previous bad habits. 他很快陷入以前的恶习中去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

6 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

7 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

8 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

9 nutritional   

adj.营养的，滋养的

参考例句：

• A diet lacking in nutritional value will not keep a person healthy.缺乏营养价值的饮食不能维持人的健康。
• The labels on food products give a lot of information about their nutritional content.食品上的标签提供很多关于营养成分的信息。

10 measles   

n.麻疹，风疹，包虫病，痧子

参考例句：

• The doctor is quite definite about Tom having measles.医生十分肯定汤姆得了麻疹。
• The doctor told her to watch out for symptoms of measles.医生叫她注意麻疹出现的症状。

11 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。